The Guardians: Book One of the Restoration Series (24 page)

The fort was primarily a military outpost, but certain necessary trades had forced the establishment of various shops and businesses. He observed a smithy, a brothel, and several small stores on his way to find the colonel.

The Colonel's office was a building that had soldiers streaming in and out. He climbed the three steps and paused in front of the two guards stationed beside the entrance. Both guards had been watching him approach.

“I’m looking for Colonel Holt. Is he in there?” Flare asked.

The guards gave him directions to the Colonel's office and let him pass.

Once in the building, he had to wait about an hour before being led in to the colonel’s office. He entered the office and snapped to attention, “Sergeant Flaranthlas Eldanari reporting as ordered with reinforcements.”

Colonel Holt was sitting behind a large desk. He looked rather prim and proper, but something else caught Flare's attention and made his heart skip a beat. Sitting on a couch and looking smug was none other that Dale Stonewood. He was wearing a wicked looking grin.

The colonel looked young for his rank. He had a sharp nose that was too large for his face, and thinning blond hair. He was well tanned and tall, but a little on the thin side.

A large wooden desk was sitting in front of a window, facing the doorway. A couch and several chairs were arranged in a semi-circle facing the desk. Several paintings and a notched battle ax were hanging on the walls. One of the paintings was of the church in Telur. Another painting depicted the god Adel locked in mortal combat with the god Thal.

The colonel waited for several moments, before he spoke. “Well done, sergeant. You were not supposed to be here for another couple of days. You made the journey in excellent time.”

“Thank you, sir. My orders were to get the reinforcements here as soon as possible.”

“Reinforcements!?”
Colonel Holt stood and walked around the desk, “The force of four hundred and fifty men that you brought, doubles the complement of men at this fort. That gives me about nine hundred men to guard and defend this fort. Do you think that is enough?”

“No, sir!”
Flare answered quickly. He had no idea how many men it would take, but he could tell that was not the answer that Colonel Holt wanted to hear.

Colonel Holt was pacing back in forth in front of the desk. “No indeed. In times of war, this fort had a complement of almost ten thousand.
Ten thousand!”
The colonel was working himself into
a frenzy
. This was apparently not a topic he was fond of discussing. “In times of peace, the complement never dropped below five thousand. So what do they do when Telur is threatened? They take almost all of my men, and give me five hundred recruits.”

“Uh, Sir.
I assure you that we will do our best.”

“What? Oh. Yes I’m sure you will sergeant.” The colonel paused briefly, when Dale cleared his throat. “Oh yes. I almost forgot about guild-man Stonewood. I believe that you owe him an apology, and I guess we will have to confiscate some of your pay as payment for the lost wages you cost him.”

“Excuse me.” Flare said, not liking the sound of this at all, and the growing smile on the face of Dale was not helping.

The Colonel looked more irritated than anything. “Didn't you interfere with his legal right to practice his profession?”

“No sir. I interfered with his girls trespassing in a military camp.”

Colonel Holt seemed clearly taken aback by his answer.

Dale sensed the weakening of his position, “Good Colonel, the King himself says that our profession can be practiced anywhere in the realm. This soldier obviously overstepped himself by interfering.”

“Anywhere in the realm?”
Flare repeated, looking as he spoke at the religious pictures on the walls. “Perhaps then, your profession could be practiced in the middle of the temple?”

Colonel Holt's expression was one of shock, and Dale regarded him with a flat look.

“What do you mean by that?” The Colonel finally managed.

Flare responded in a calm manner, “I'm simply suggesting that while he can practice his profession, he cannot do it anywhere he chooses. I allowed the men under my command to leave the camp at night and visit his wagons. I simply did not allow his girls to use my encampment as a brothel.”

The Colonel's left eyebrow rose and he half smiled. “I see your point.”

“But Colonel, remember our discussion about how he should be punished.” Dale said,

Flare spoke quickly, not wanting to give the Colonel a chance to change his mind. He leaned over near the Colonel, “Sir, technically my orders came from General Vergillion. I believe that while under his command, any complaint against me would have to go through him.”

Colonel Holt regarded Flare for several moments. “Guild-man Stonewood, please wait outside for a moment.”

“Now wait just...” Dale started saying, but the Colonel cut him off.

“Now!”
Colonel Holt said, his voice rising.

Dale regarded the both of them for just a moment, his anger and hatred for Flare obvious. Then he stomped out of the room.

Colonel Holt continued to regard Flare for several more moments, and Flare began to itch under the scrutiny. “You're a cunning one and you wiggled out of that trouble easily enough. I hope that you won't have to wiggle out of anything else while you're under my command.”

“No, sir!”
Flare said.

Colonel Holt smiled again, “Although, I guess your orders from General Vergillion actually give you command for another two days, don't they?” His comment was a joke, and Flare took it as such.

“Now, this afternoon I am going to ride westward and investigate some reports of the goblins massing. I want you to pick some of your better men to go with me. It will give me a firsthand account of your abilities, and the abilities of your men.”

Colonel Holt stopped in front of Flare, appraising him. “I want you and five of your best men to ride with me. Pick your men and meet me at the western gate at noon.”

“Yes, sir.
We'll be ready.”

Flare hurried out of the Colonel's office, and wasn't surprised to see that Dale had left with his tail between his legs. He went straight back to the temporary
quarters,
and hastily selected the most qualified soldiers.

He tried to find all of the squad, but not all of them were around. Derek, Kara, and Mikela were still scattered amongst the soldiers, when he addressed the squad.

“Listen up. Colonel Holt wants me and five of you to ride with him westward. Heather, I want you to go as our woods guide.”

Heather ran her hand through her hair, “Fine.”

“Also Atock, Philip, Enton, and Trestus are to ride with us.”

Callin jumped up from his chair, “Why are you taking Trestus? I’m a better archer, and a better swordsman than he is. I should go, not him.”

Flare appraised him with a stern glare. Callin held the eye contact for several moments before dropping his eyes to the floor.

“Callin, you may be better with the bow than Trestus, but he will not question my orders in front of the Colonel. If you were better disciplined, you would probably be going with us. Now, I want you to stay here and watch the soldiers. Understand?”

A somewhat cowed Callin answered, “Yes sir.”

“Good.” Flare said, nodding. Then to everybody, “All right, people. Let’s get moving.”

They stopped only to get their equipment and horses, and arrived at the western gate fifteen minutes early, but Colonel Holt was already waiting for them. He was rubbing the nose of a beautiful brown mare, with about fifteen well armed soldiers standing around him.

“You’re early, Sergeant, but that’s good. Are these your best men?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, put one of them at point, and let’s get going.”

Flare glanced over at Heather, and she moved forward to take the foremost position, and then the rest of the soldiers formed a rough diamond shaped formation around the colonel. It was noontime, when the soldiers rode through the gate.

The mountain range ran away from the fortress to the north and south. The ground ran from the gate at a steep angle, until gradually leveling off at the edge of the forest, and there was a noticeable absence of any trees or shrubs near the fortress. They were afforded a wonderful view of the tops of the trees as the forest ran off into the distance.

They rode for an hour, along the remains of the crumbling ancient road. Colonel Holt said no one knew who had built the road; it had just always been there. It was called the forest road today, but once it had been known as the cutting road. The road was wide and had grass growing all over it. In spots, tree roots were pushing the stones out of the ground.

The group was moving along at a relaxed pace, when Heather came back toward the main formation in a gallop. She pulled up in front of Colonel Holt and Flare.

“Sir.
Were approaching a large clearing, and there are goblin prints all around. There are also some prints that I have never seen before. Sir, may I suggest that we ...”

The colonel raised his hand to cut Heather off. “I’m sure that we can handle whatever we find. Lead on.”

Flare was surprised, “Sir. May I suggest that we at least send out scouts to explore the area first? That would at least give us an idea of what were going up against.”

The colonel stared at Flare for several moments, “Sergeant. I am not used to having soldiers question my orders. I’m sure that we can handle a few goblins. But even if we can’t, it is my decision, not yours.”

Knowing that no matter how much he disagreed with the colonel, he had been placed under his command, Flare bit his tongue and apologized.
“Sir.
I apologize. I did not mean to question your orders; I simply meant to offer you alternatives.”

“When I want your alternatives, I'll ask for them.”

Somewhat cowed, Flare answered, “Yes sir.” His thoughts drifted back to earlier in the day, when he had given much the same speech to Callin.

The colonel turned his attention back to Heather. “Now, lead on.”

Approaching the clearing, they spread out and moved as silently as possible.

They broke through the brush, and entered the south-western part of the clearing. There were ten goblins gathered around a fire. Goblins were evil creatures, with wicked looking fangs. They were about the same height as humans, but much stronger. They were furry, and wore little clothing. They lived in clans, or tribes, and were constantly fighting amongst themselves. They jumped to their feet as the soldiers entered the clearing.

Colonel Holt drew his sword, shouting, “Charge!” The colonel and his soldiers from the fort quickly spurred their horses forward.

Flare, however, tried to restrain his men from joining the battle. Philip was in the battle with the goblins before Flare could stop him, but he stopped the rest of the squad members from charging.

“Wait! Guard the rear. Trestus get your bow ready and scan the trees. Heather, get back into the woods and make sure we’re not being ambushed. Atock, Enton, draw your weapons, and stay alert.”

The fight continued for several minutes, but the soldiers, with their superior numbers, were easily defeating the goblins. Eight goblins were already dead, while only two soldiers had fallen.

All of a sudden, Heather burst back through the trees. “Flare! There are goblins everywhere. We're surrounded!”

“How many are there?”

Heather shook her head as she answered, “I don’t know.
A couple hundred, maybe.”

“Damn.
All right.”
Flare quickly gave orders. “Form into a wedge, we’ll have to burst through them and make a run for the fort, but first I must warn the colonel.”

He turned his horse around and sped off toward the battle.

The last two goblins had not been killed, but instead they had been caught and tied up, presumably for interrogation later.

Flare pulled his horse up, kicking up dirt from his horses hooves.

Flare opened his mouth to speak, when Colonel Holt cut him off, “Sergeant, why were your men disregarding orders and hanging back?”

“Sir, we were guarding the rear in case of an ambush.
And ..
”

“Ambush?
These are goblins. They don’t ambush. Their just not sm....”

“Sir!
There are several hundred of them surrounding us now. We must retreat.” Flare said. He interrupted the colonel without thinking.

“What? That’s impossible. They don’t work together like that.” The Colonel said, dismissing Flare with a wave of his hand.

“Sir.
We must go, right now.”

Flare didn’t wait for an answer, but instead turned and rode back toward the forest. When he got close enough, He shouted, “Heather! Take point. Spearhead us a path through!”

She obeyed instantly, charging through a break in the foliage, with Flare and the other soldiers right behind them.